2011 sportwagen “safe” on cluster

I have a 2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI. After changing the dead battery the car would not recognize any of the 3 keys I have. “Key not in range” would appear on the cluster. After several attempts by 2 different “professional” car locksmiths with laptops and other programming devices, not only did they fail to reprogram the keys, and remove the cluster, put the cluster back. Now it no longer says “key not in range” it says “safe”. The car starts runs for 2 seconds and shuts down. If anyone has encountered this problem and has managed to solve it, can you please help? I don’t know what else to do.

Try popping the keyhole cover off the driver side door and locking and unlocking the door with the key. No idea if that will work, but it does on some vehicles.

Tried it, but it didn’t work. Thanks.

I would try disconnecting the battery again. Then I would try leaving the key in the ignition, on, for a few hours. Stabbing in the dark, really.

If you want to avoid the dealer, you will probably need to do an immo delete, although it may be too late for that. I would get in touch with member jetta ,97 who know his way around these clesters very well.
Good luck.

Thanks for the help, very appreciated!

Please report back to let us know how you resolved the issue.